The 25 six-car electric multiple units to be built by Siemens for Govia Thameslink Railway have been designated Class 717s.
They will enter traffic from towards the end of 2018, replacing 40 three-car Class 313s. The contract is worth £200 million and the trains will be built at Krefeld, in Germany.
They are similar to the Class 700s being built by Siemens for GTR (of which 16 are in the UK), but they must have end doors as per safety regulations due to their operation in the Moorgate Tunnels. The design of this is at an advanced stage, with construction due to start this year.
- For more on this, read RAIL 803, published on June 22.
- For more on GTR's Class 700 fleet, read RAIL 802, published today (June 8).
Melvyn - 08/06/2016 23:24
We constantly hear from northerners complaints about the age of pacers yet the class 313s these class 717s will replace will be over 40 years old when they are replaced . These trains began life as experimental PEP stock and it was there advanced design more like a tube train than the slam door trains then widely used means they still look modern 40 years later ! It's a real pity that the Great Northern tunnels were not emulated more widely when the tube was built but in the days of tunnels built by hand size really did matter .